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Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.

The advanced diploma forces the student to take more academic classes to meet credit requirements. If you don't think that's a good idea with college as a goal, then I guess the standard would be ok. But it never came up in and of itself when I applied to colleges. The trancript speaks for itself, and if the student went for the lower diploma, they would have had no reason to fill in that transcript with extra math, english and science classes.

FWIW I took many great electives and had a very well-rounded high school education (outside of not caring about grades). I say take the advanced diploma and make yourself smarter no matter what the end goal, there will still be plenty of room for the extras.

WashingTone Locian Wrote:
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> Don't you get college credit with an Advanced
> Diploma?

No, you are thinking of kids who take AP classes. The advanced studies diploma in my day was 23 credits, mostly academically focused with more English and science and math than the 21 credit standard diploma. The level of the classes as far as GT/AP/IB is not material to that diploma.

I believe the number of required credits for both diplomas is higher now than my day and the type of credits required for each has also progressed.

Robin Hood Wrote:
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> Choosing to get an advanced diploma is a personal
> choice. Yes, Washing, getting an advanced diploma
> means earning college credit for certain courses.
>
>
> Bob, you have posted a lot of posts related to
> school here on this forum. Did you attend private
> school?

The advanced diploma and standard are very similar. You are required to take the core classes for 3-4 years reguardles.

The only major difference is, you have to take 3 years of a foreign language or 4 years of two different languages (2 years each). Foreign languages can be hard and that is why many kids do not pursue the advanced diploma, but I know the majority of kids do get the advanced diploma and most colleges want to see a kid has taken atleast a couple years of a foreign language reguardless.

It doesn't matter. I got the standard in 2000, and now I'm a graduate student in a prestigous New York school. Just do what it takes to get out of high school with the least effort. In the end, high school is bullshit and it just weeds out the fucked up kids early.

My HS diploma is an advanced stuides diploma and I graduated from Prince William County in 1998. I can't remember the differences other than the amount of credits required to receive it, but I think foreign language and a few other "advanced" courses were necessary.

Curious Wrote:
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> Anyone know why a student should get an advanced
> diploma rather than the standard diploma?
>
> I can't find any reason listed or if it really
> matters to anyone afterwards.

Neen Wrote:
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> There's no reason. Colleges look at the courses a
> student took, along with GPA, SAT, etc. They
> don't care what FCPS calls the diploma.

Pretty much this.

Better to get straight A's in normal classes than B's and C's in AP&GT or go for an advanced diploma.

The classes that go into the advanced diploma help, but that's specifically because the college wants to see foreign language and science, not because it's the advanced diploma.

My take on college is that unless you graduate from a school that is FAMOUS in your chosen field (e.g. MIT for Engineering, Harvard for anything, Juliard for the arts, etc), it doesn't matter much where you go. It is unlikely that a potential employer will care whether you got your engineering degree at Virginia Tech or ODU. Get the diploma and start your life.

An advanced diploma is another way FC parents play the "my kid is better than your kid" game.

Take your general level college-prep courses. Read ahead in the book, use blackboard, proactively communicate with your teachers and you will get good grades. Take an honors class in 10 or 11 and an AP class or two senior year.

Too many FC parents pressure their kids into taking a HUGE academic load and the kids fail to meet their personal, family and collegiate standards once admitted.

NOTE: nearly 1 in 5 FCPS grads who go to four-year schools are home in a year. Sad fact that is hidden in the mountain of stats. :(

Learn to write and to express your thoughts in conversations. Just learning to master multiple choice tests will not help you thrive in the competitive world.